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As hatchlings, alligators are prominently banded with yellow on black.

Alligators are very much a fact of life in the deep south. And our area of Florida is certainly not exempt. We live between a fair-sized pond and a sizable wetland. Just beyond the wetland is Paynes Prairie State Biological Preserve. There is no shortage of gators here. In wandering from pond to wetlands or vice versa gators often stop in our yard. So far he visitors have ranged from 14” to 8’. Because we have dogs the bigger alligators cause us some concern so we escort them out of the yard and at least part way back to the pond. So far none have returned.

Since the wetlands opened across the street from us we have been able to watch and listen to these big reptiles at about any time we choose. Breeding activity (including male bellowing) and territorial skirmishes are seen and heard in April and May. Hatchlings are usually first seen in late May to July. Except on the most inclement of winter days basking adults may be seen year round.

As stated at the outset, gators are very much a fact of life here. We keep our distance and during the breeding season we keep even greater distances from displaying males and nesting females. Dogs on trails, even when on leashes, can lead to seriously adverse gator encounters. Pure and simple, dogs = food. Watch toddlers carefully. Use common sense folks. Gators are big, dominant, predators that often feed in the shallows or on the shoreline. Give them their due! As the cliché states, “Be safe, not sorry!” And I’ll add, if you really love your dog, leave it at home when you’re in gator country.

The family Anguidae comprises species from Europe, Africa, Mexico, Asia and the United States. Several of the species are limbless and others, such as the various alligator lizards, have short but fully functional limbs. All have functional eyelids, most have a lateral groove, and the broad tongue is protrusible and bears a slight notch at the tip.

To many hobbyists, the Texas alligator lizard, Gerrhonotus liocephalus infernalis--attenuate, short limbed, and long-tailed--is the king of the family. Certainly it is an interesting species that, although not rare, is secretive and can be difficult to find. Although essentially terrestrial, hiding beneath all manner of surface debris (leaf litter, logs, rocks, cardboard, etc.), this lizard is quite capable of climbing and may ascend juniper or other rough barked trees/shrubs.

Adults of this impressive lizard are gray(ish) or brown(ish) with poorly defined lighter dorsal barring from nape to tailtip. The ground color of juveniles (and hatchlings especially) is much darker and the dorsal barring is lighter and more precise. The long tail is slightly prehensile and readily autotomized.

This is a lizard of Texas’s Edwards Plateau westward to the Big Bend region and from there southward to San Luis Potosi.

Besides the painted turtles mentioned in my last blog, the ponds in the one-time zoo in my hometown had a sizable (both in numbers and body size) and vocal population of bullfrogs, Rana catesbeiana. In itself this was not unusual. By definition bullfrogs are big, noisy, and prolific. Having a body size of 8+ inches, males of this very aquatic species are larger than females. And although females are capable of making escape and fright screams, it is the males that produce the more typical croaks, bellows, and “jug-o-rums.” That takes care of the big and noisy parts of my above statement, but how about prolific? Female bullfrogs produce egg masses that contain from about 7,500 eggs to more than 25,000! That, my friends, is prolific! Fortunately, many predators, from cats to raccoons to herons to water snakes, to bigger bullfrogs to aquatic insects consider bullfrog tadpoles and metamorphs a tasty repast, so not all young bullfrogs make it to the adult size. In fact, it is probable the most don’t survive past the juvenile/subadult stages.

But what about those that do? Well, back to the bullfrogs in my hometown zoo ponds where, secluded and protected by lush water lily/lotus growth dozens (if not hundreds) of wee bullfrogs evaded predation, survived and grew and grew. Most of the froglets were normal, but I would find a few—1 or 2—each year that had a similar deformity—3 hind legs! Cause? Unknown. And I never found an adult with this anomaly.